Toyota takes on HSV and FPV with new brand TRD

[Buri_Sportivo]

Toyota takes on HSV and FPV

08-05-06

Words - John Carey

Its new performance division aims to change buyer perceptions about the brand by toughening-up Toyota's image.

Another part of Toyota’s grand plan to consolidate its position as Australia’s Number One automotive company was revealed yesterday.

The announcement made it official that TRD (stands for Toyota Racing Development) is to be the brand for Toyota Australia’s future range of performance models.

A supercharged version of the Australian-made six-cylinder Aurion will be the first TRD-branded model. It’s scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2007.

This car was previewed at the Melbourne International Motor Show earlier this year. In the Toyota Style Australia studio in Melbourne a huge block of foam was computer-carved to reveal some, but not too many, of the TRD Aurion’s design features. Hand finished to give the impression that a full-size car had been partly milled from a massive lump of solid titanium, the finished project was shown beside a much more real prototype of its supercharged 3.5-litre V6 engine.

The move to compete with Holden’s HSV and Ford’s FPV is seen as critically important by senior Toyota Australia executives. And this represents a major alteration in attitude for the company.

According to ebullient marketing boss Peter Evans, the process began with a thorough, nationwide market research program. The results, especially the finding that one out of every two new car buyers wouldn’t consider Toyota, were unexpected by some.

“Our senior management were absolutely convinced that anybody would buy a Toyota,” says Evans, “we just have to have the right product.”

“Forty eight percent said ‘Oh, no, Toyota doesn’t say the right things about me. I don’t aspire to a Toyota. If I drive a Toyota I’m seen as conservative’,” says Evans. “All the stuff you know…

"We had to put it into perspective," Evans said. "There's a higher percentage who won't consider Holden, there's an even higher percentage who won't consider Ford, and there's an incredibly high percentage who won't even consider a Hyundai.

“To move to 250,000 (annual sales in Australia) we have to increase the availability of people to the Toyota Brand,” he said. “We’re already Number One. There are more people who are willing to buy a Toyota than any other brand, based on our research. But, if we want to increase our sales even further, and move from 20 percent market share to 25 percent market share, then we’ve still got to bring some of that 48 percent into the fold.”

High-performance models were identified as crucial to adding to Toyota’s appeal, Evans said, and to make the most of the company’s motorsport achievements.

“We’ve got a fantastic, rich heritage in motorsport, going back to the Toyota-7 CanAm car, and winning the Thousand Lakes Rally with a Corolla in 1972, and we’ve won Indianapolis in 2003, but if you ask the average punter, and we have, they haven’t got a clue. And that’s our fault,” he said.

The other problem was a shortage of cars that could credibly take advantage of Toyota’s past and present motorsport activities. Toyota headquarters had killed off Made-in-Japan models like the Celica and MR2. Further, Japan was unwilling to allocate scarce engineering resource to certifying the shrinking number of performance cars in its catalogue for Australia.

If Toyota Motor Corporation couldn’t do it, explains Evans, then Toyota Motor Corporation Australia itself would have to take on the task of developing some exciting cars.

“It [TRD Australia] was given added impetus, I guess, by the recognition that it could be one of the keys to unlocking the unavailable people who wouldn’t consider Toyota by giving us an image and a product they would like to drive,” Evans said.

To read more about TRD, watch for Wheels June, on sale May 24.

http://wheels.carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/Desk...&Alias=wheelsau

[oVo]

interesting... :o very interesting... :o ...

>_< does that mean my 05 Stivo will be dead in a year against all these new breeds??? >_<

[xoom]

So has anyone asked the question now .... will my warrenty be voided if i put a TRD CAI on my car

U know i'd really love to hear what they have to say about that now <_< <_< <_< <_< <_<

[Northy]

So has anyone asked the question now .... will my warrenty be voided if i put a TRD CAI on my car

U know i'd really love to hear what they have to say about that now <_< <_< <_< <_< <_<

they could prolly pull the its a JP/US part so we wont cover it.....as that would be the toyota thing to do....

[Buri_Sportivo]

So has anyone asked the question now .... will my warrenty be voided if i put a TRD CAI on my car

U know i'd really love to hear what they have to say about that now <_< <_< <_< <_< <_<

they could prolly pull the its a JP/US part so we wont cover it.....as that would be the toyota thing to do....

I wasn't that shocked. They were speaking of a performance brand like hsv and pfv and all i could think of was TRD and that's what they did. All i want to hear right now is the confirmation of awd on the supercharged aurion. I have heard it is going to have it but i would love to see it on paper too as im going to buy it when it comes out.

[oVo]

So has anyone asked the question now .... will my warrenty be voided if i put a TRD CAI on my car

U know i'd really love to hear what they have to say about that now <_< <_< <_< <_< <_<

they could prolly pull the its a JP/US part so we wont cover it.....as that would be the toyota thing to do....

I wasn't that shocked. They were speaking of a performance brand like hsv and pfv and all i could think of was TRD and that's what they did. All i want to hear right now is the confirmation of awd on the supercharged aurion. I have heard it is going to have it but i would love to see it on paper too as im going to buy it when it comes out.

Ouuu.... go the All Wheel Aurion....!!! :D :D :D

[Azza]

Might i say though, that I won;t believe that TRD parts are going tono a Factory Toyota until I see it.

FPV and HSV remember are Factory Approved items. That is that they are approved and authorised by the Factory to make, create, deal, play, modify and enhance vehicles of their respective manufacturers with their blessings...

TRD on the other hand, is only authorised to use Toyota's name and are given restricted amounts of inside info for their own R&D....

I'm not saying it isn't going to happen, but i will say that I will believe it when I see it...

[Buddha]

All i want to hear right now is the confirmation of awd on the supercharged aurion. I have heard it is going to have it but i would love to see it on paper too as im going to buy it when it comes out.

Hang on a minute ... you claimed in an earlier post that your father has driven the AWD supercharged Aurion, now you've only heard that its happening and are awaiting confirmation.

Hmmm ... <_<

[MT]

someone take the shovel off that boy before he reaches china :P

[RXSeven]

Yes mick. And wipe his mouth. I see brown coming out lol.

[Buri_Sportivo]

Yes mick. And wipe his mouth. I see brown coming out lol.

I believe my dad but i still want to see the spec sheet where it says " A W D ". That's because from one side people are saying normal aurion is fwd and supercharged version won't have a different drive system, some articles said it will and some didn't and from one side my dad's driven an awd version. Goddamn why can't i make people understand what im trying to say lol. I know my dad has driven it. I just want to make it clear for everyone that's awd. Daaammnnnnn give me a break.

Edited May 19, 2006 by Buri_Sportivo

[Azza]

Maybe Buri is telling the truth everyone. Maybe everything he is telling us is straight from his Dad's personal inside knowledge...

Maybe his Dad is the one spinning sh!t....

[Buri_Sportivo]

Maybe Buri is telling the truth everyone. Maybe everything he is telling us is straight from his Dad's personal inside knowledge...

Maybe his Dad is the one spinning sh!t....

i would laugh if he is but everything he has told me has turned out correct. Ofcourse he isn't spinning **** but maybe he's mistaken. I asked him today if he was sure that the aurion he drove that day was awd? He says he definately remembers seeing smoke from the front wheels. I asked him about the rears, he says he doesn't remember the rears and he said that it was very easy of the car to do dohnuts and he was very impressed with the handling of the car and the power of the supercharger. Seriously i do not care anymore. Im sick of it. Im just going to ask his friends the next time i see em for the videos or pictures and if they say it was an awd system then im going to believe it but if they say something else im just going to wait and see. It's either fwd just like the normal aurion or it's awd. Because im thinking you really wouldn't focus on the rear tyres while doing dohnuts. Maybe that's why he doesn't recall. Anyway i'll just leave it to time. Sorry for the headaches in the mean time.

Edited May 20, 2006 by Buri_Sportivo

[RXSeven]

? You can usually tell when you're in an AWD tho man. I've hopped in my mates Pulsar GTi when he had it and drove it a few times and could tell every time. They stick like glue and they help push from the back through corners and pull from the front etc, feels more direct. Ask your dad again. Plus to my knowledge doing donuts in a fwd is most certainly possible but not that easy. Doing donuts in an AWD? Well my mate dared me to try once in his GTi (before he had his HD clutch and flywheel in) and the thing just gripped. If I hadn't stopped we wouldn've flown out of the car park lol. Maybe it is a fwd after all. Given that the Mazda 3 MPS is still fwd maybe this Aurion will be as well. My heart wants this car to be AWD badly. Toyota needs something that will give it's performance fans a role model again. Toyota needs another Supra.

Oh and don't mind me. I'm a just a sh!t stirrer, just like Mick...and Azza...and half of TOCA lol.

One more thing too...it's usually better to keep some things secret and to yourself, otherwise people may lob crap on you ;) I know only too well lol.

[Buri_Sportivo]

? You can usually tell when you're in an AWD tho man. I've hopped in my mates Pulsar GTi when he had it and drove it a few times and could tell every time. They stick like glue and they help push from the back through corners and pull from the front etc, feels more direct. Ask your dad again. Plus to my knowledge doing donuts in a fwd is most certainly possible but not that easy. Doing donuts in an AWD? Well my mate dared me to try once in his GTi (before he had his HD clutch and flywheel in) and the thing just gripped. If I hadn't stopped we wouldn've flown out of the car park lol. Maybe it is a fwd after all. Given that the Mazda 3 MPS is still fwd maybe this Aurion will be as well. My heart wants this car to be AWD badly. Toyota needs something that will give it's performance fans a role model again. Toyota needs another Supra.

Oh and don't mind me. I'm a just a sh!t stirrer, just like Mick...and Azza...and half of TOCA lol.

One more thing too...it's usually better to keep some things secret and to yourself, otherwise people may lob crap on you ;) I know only too well lol.

true fromnow on im not saying anything till its certain. + i'll ask my dad again about it.

[TRD Man]

FPV and HSV remember are Factory Approved items. That is that they are approved and authorised by the Factory to make, create, deal, play, modify and enhance vehicles of their respective manufacturers with their blessings...

TRD on the other hand, is only authorised to use Toyota's name and are given restricted amounts of inside info for their own R&D....

Are you sure?

[xoom]

FPV and HSV remember are Factory Approved items. That is that they are approved and authorised by the Factory to make, create, deal, play, modify and enhance vehicles of their respective manufacturers with their blessings...

TRD on the other hand, is only authorised to use Toyota's name and are given restricted amounts of inside info for their own R&D....

Are you sure?

Not sure about anywhere else bruce but in Australia this is the case .... in actual fact in australia its even worse in that a TRD part is not even warrented by toyota and in actual fact if toyota wanted to could void part of ur manufactorers warrenty if a TRD part did do any damage to your car ..... <_< <_< <_< <_<

Where as i know in the USA if the TRD parts are fitted by a toyota dealer then the warrenty of the TRD part comes under your new car warrenty :D :D :D :D

If only toyota AUS was smart enough to do the same .... idiots ......

[Azza]

Heard again yesterday that there is talk of TMC having TRD Branded equipment fitted as standard items to some Toyota modes. I guess its watch this space...

[Azza]

Well, it appears that Toyota are now admitting to this...

Toyota Australia

[toyrex]

? You can usually tell when you're in an AWD tho man. I've hopped in my mates Pulsar GTi when he had it and drove it a few times and could tell every time. They stick like glue and they help push from the back through corners and pull from the front etc, feels more direct. Ask your dad again. Plus to my knowledge doing donuts in a fwd is most certainly possible but not that easy. Doing donuts in an AWD? Well my mate dared me to try once in his GTi (before he had his HD clutch and flywheel in) and the thing just gripped. If I hadn't stopped we wouldn've flown out of the car park lol. Maybe it is a fwd after all. Given that the Mazda 3 MPS is still fwd maybe this Aurion will be as well. My heart wants this car to be AWD badly. Toyota needs something that will give it's performance fans a role model again. Toyota needs another Supra.

Oh and don't mind me. I'm a just a sh!t stirrer, just like Mick...and Azza...and half of TOCA lol.

One more thing too...it's usually better to keep some things secret and to yourself, otherwise people may lob crap on you ;) I know only too well lol.

true fromnow on im not saying anything till its certain. + i'll ask my dad again about it.

So has your Dad got any new information about the car? Is is still an AWD?